EFFICIENT PRICING LOOKBACK OPTIONS UNDER LÉVY

PROCESSES

OLEG KUDRYAVTSEV∗

∗
Department of Informatics, Russian Customs Academy Rostov Branch,
Budennovskiy 20, Rostov-on-Don, 344002, Russia,
MATHRISK, INRIA Rocquencourt, France
E-mail: koe@donrta.ru
†
Department of Mathematics, The University of Leicester, University Road
Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK
E-mail: sl278@le.ac.uk

Abstract. We use a general formula which was derived in Kudryavtsev and Lev-
endorskiǐ (2011) for pricing options with barrier and/or lookback features in Lévy
models. In the case of lookback options the pricing formula can be efficiently real-
ized using the methodology developed in Kudryavtsev and Levendorskiǐ (Finance
Stoch. 13: 531–562, 2009). We demonstrate advantages of our approach in terms
of accuracy and convergence.

AMS 2000 subject classifications: Primary 60-08, 60J75; secondary 65R10,

47A68, 42A85, 91G60
Keywords: Lévy processes, KoBoL, CGMY, barrier options, lookback options,
barrier-lookback options, Wiener-Hopf factorization, inverse Laplace transform, Fast
Fourier transform

Premia 18
1. Introduction

Lookback options are among the most popular path-dependent derivatives traded
in exchanges worldwide. The payoffs of these options depend on the realized minimum
(or maximum) asset price at expiration. A standard European lookback call (put)
gives the option holder the right to buy (sell) an asset at its lowest (highest) price
during the life of the option. Standard (also called floating strike) lookbacks were
first studied in [32, 33], where closed-form pricing formulas were derived in the Black-
Scholes framework. In addition to standard lookback options, paper [23] introduces
fixed strike lookbacks. A fixed strike lookback call pays off the difference between the
1
2 OLEG KUDRYAVTSEV

realized maximum price and some prespecified strike or zero, whichever is greater.
A lookback put with a fixed strike pays off the difference between the strike and the
realized minimum price or zero, whichever is greater. Fixed strike lookback options
can be priced also analytically in the Black-Scholes model [23]. In a discrete time
setting the extremum of the asset price will be determined at discrete monitoring
instants (see e.g. [2] for a detailed description). The continuity corrections for discrete
lookback options in the Black-Scholes setting are given in [16]. For a description
of lookback options with American type constrains and related pricing methods in
diffusion models, we refer to [5, 31, 34, 47, 64] and the references cited therein.
Other types of lookback options include exotic lookbacks, percentage lookback
options in which the extreme values are multiplied by a constant [23], and partial
lookback options [35] (the monitoring interval for the extremum is a subinterval
between the initial date and the expiry).
In recent years more and more attention has been given to stochastic models of
financial markets which depart from the traditional Black-Scholes model. We con-
centrate on one-factor non-gaussian exponential Lévy models. These models provide
a better fit to empirical asset price distributions that typically have fatter tails than
Gaussian ones, and can reproduce volatility smile phenomena in option prices. For
an introduction to applications of these models applied to finance, we refer to [14, 22].
Option valuation under Lévy processes has been dealt with by a host of researchers,
therefore, an exhaustive list is virtually impossible. However, the pricing of path-
dependent options in exponential Lévy models still remains a mathematical and
computational challenge (see, e.g., [62, 41, 54, 10, 11, 9] for recent surveys of the
state of the art of exotic option pricing in Lévy models).
The Wiener-Hopf factorization method is a standard tool for pricing path-dependent
options. Nguyen-Ngoc and Yor [54] obtained formulas in terms of the WienerŰHopf
factors for the Laplace transform of continuously monitored barrier and lookback
options in general Lévy models. The probabilistic approach used in the paper al-
lows, in particular, to recover the results for barrier options derived in [14] using
the analytical form of the Wiener-Hopf factorization method. The drawback of the
 EFFICIENT PRICING LOOKBACK OPTIONS UNDER LÉVY PROCESSES 3

formulas in [14, 54] is the complexity of numerical calculations required, since, in

general, numerical n-fold integrals (with n = 2, 3) are needed.
In the case of jump diffusions with exponentially distributed Poisson jumps (a
double-exponential jump diffusion process (DEJD) and its generalization: a hyper-
exponential jump-diffusion model (HEJD)), the Laplace transform of the price w.r.t.
time has a relatively simple explicit form. Formulas for DEJD model were obtained
by Lipton [50] and Kou [41], and, for double-barrier options, by Sepp [61]; for HEJD
case, see [20, 24, 36] and the bibliography in [9]. Note that papers [50, 40] consider
continuously monitored barrier and lookback options, whereas the other papers cited
above studied barrier options only. The Laplace transform of the price having being
calculated, one uses a suitable numerical Laplace inversion algorithm to recover the
option price. However, the problem of the inversion of the Laplace transform is
non-trivial from the computational point of view. We refer the reader to [1] for a
description of a general framework for related numerical methods.
Calculation of the Laplace transform of the price under a general Lévy process is
non-trivial as well. To simplify calculations, one can approximate the initial process
by a DEJD or, more generally, HEJD, and then use the Laplace transform method
(see, e.g., [20, 24, 36]). However, this approximation introduces an additional error,
which may be quite sizable near the barrier (see examples in [10, 11]).
Borovkov and Novikov [8] develop a method based on Spitzer’s identity to price
discrete lookback options in a general Lévy model; see also [55]. The methods of
these papers are computationally expensive when the monitoring is frequent (e.g.,
daily monitoring). Using the Hilbert transform, Feng and Linetsky [29, 30] proposed
a new computationally efficient method for pricing discrete barrier and lookback
options and calculation of exponential moments of the discrete maximum of a Lévy
process.
As the number of monitoring times goes to infinity, discrete (barrier) lookback
options converge to continuous (barrier) lookbacks. However, the discrete options
pricing methods described above converge to continuous prices rather slowly. The
Richardson extrapolation is typically used to improve the rate of convergence of
4 OLEG KUDRYAVTSEV

various numerical schemes. Unfortunately, even for the standard lookbacks, there are
no theoretical results, which can be used to find a generalization of the Richardson
extrapolation procedure appropriate for estimation of continuous values from discrete
ones (see the discussion in [30]). Motivated by the pricing of lookback options in
exponential Lévy models, Dia and Lamberton [25] studied the difference between
the continuous and discrete supremum of a general Lévy process. However, similar
results for hybrid exotics are unavailabale at present.
Kudryavtsev and Levendorskiǐ [42] developed a fast and accurate numerical method
labelled Fast Wiener-Hopf factorization method (FWHF-method) for pricing continu-
ously monitored barrier options under Lévy processes of a wide class. FWHF-method
is based on an efficient approximation of the Wiener-Hopf factors in the exact for-
mula for the solution and the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algorithm. In contrast
to finite difference methods which require a detailed analysis of the underlying Lévy
model, the FWHF-method deals with the characteristic exponent of the process.
In [44], Kudryavtsev and Levendorskiǐ derive a general formula which is applicable
to barrier options, lookbacks, lookbarriers, barrier-lookbacks, and other similar types
of options, using an operator form of the Wiener-Hopf factorization. An efficient
numerical realization of the formula for lookback options in KoBoL(CGMY) and Kou
models was implemented into Premia 14. As well as in [44] we use Gaver-Stehfest
algorithm (see [1]) and the Fast Wiener-Hopf factorization method developed in [42].
The total computational cost of our algorithm is O(N M log2 (M )), where N is the
parameter of the Gaver-Stehfest algorithm (see Appendix A), and M is the number
of discrete points used to compute the fast Fourier transform in FWHF-method (see
Appendix B). In contrast to pricing methods based on approximations by options
with discrete monitoring, our pricing method converges very fast to prices of options
with continuous monitoring.
The rest of the paper is organized as follows. In Section 2, we give necessary
definitions of the theory of Lévy processes, and we provide a general theorem on
pricing of options with barrier and lookback features. In Section 3, we consider
realizations of the general formula for several types of options with lookback and/or
 EFFICIENT PRICING LOOKBACK OPTIONS UNDER LÉVY PROCESSES 5

barrier features, and describe an efficient numerical method for realization of the
general formula. Numerical examples in Section 4 demonstrate advantages of our
method in terms of accuracy and speed. Section 5 gives details on the method
implemented into Premia 14.

2. Lévy processes: basic facts

2.1. General definitions. A Lévy process is a stochastically continuous process

with stationary independent increments (for general definitions, see, e.g., [60]). A
Lévy process may have a Gaussian component and/or pure jump component. The
latter is characterized by the density of jumps, which is called the Lévy density.
A Lévy process Xt can be completely specified by its characteristic exponent, ψ,
definable from the equality E[eiξX(t) ] = e−tψ(ξ) (we confine ourselves to the one-
dimensional case).
The characteristic exponent is given by the Lévy-Khintchine formula:

σ2 2 Z +∞
ψ(ξ) = ξ − iµξ + (1 − eiξy + iξy 1[−1;1] (y))F (dy),
2 −∞

where σ 2 ≥ 0 is the variance of the Gaussian component, 1A is the indicator function

of the set A, and the Lévy measure F (dy) satisfies
Z
min{1, y 2 }F (dy) < +∞.
R\{0}

Assume that the riskless rate r is constant, and, under a risk-neutral measure
chosen by the market, the underlying evolves as St = S0 eXt , where Xt is a Lévy
process. Then we must have E[eXt ] < +∞, and, therefore, ψ must admit the analytic
continuation into the strip Im ξ ∈ (−1, 0) and continuous continuation into the closed
strip Im ξ ∈ [−1, 0].
Further, if d ≥ 0 is the constant dividend yield on the underlying asset, then the
following condition (the EMM-requirement) must hold: E[eXt ] = e(r−d)t . Equiva-
lently,

(2.1) r − d + ψ(−i) = 0,
6 OLEG KUDRYAVTSEV

which can be used to express the drift µ via the other parameters of the Lévy process:
σ 2 Z +∞
(2.2) µ=r−d− + (1 − ey + y 1[−1;1] (y))F (dy).
2 −∞

In empirical studies of financial markets, the following classes of Lévy processes are
popular: the Merton model [53], double-exponential jump-diffusion model (DEJD)
introduced to finance by Lipton [50] and Kou [38], generalization of DEJD model
constructed by Levendorskiĭ [48] and labelled later Hyper-exponential jump-diffusion
model (HEJD), Variance Gamma Processes (VGP) introduced to finance by Madan
with coauthors (see, e.g., [51]), Hyperbolic processes constructed in [26, 27], Normal
Inverse Gaussian processes constructed by Barndorff-Nielsen [3] and generalized in
[4], and extended Koponen’s family introduced in [12, 13] and labelled KoBoL model
in [14]. Koponen [37] introduced a symmetric version; Boyarchenko and Levendorskiǐ
[12, 13] gave a non-symmetric generalization; later, in [21], a subclass of this model
appeared under the name CGMY–model.

Example 2.1. The characteristic exponent of a pure jump KoBoL (CGMY) process
of order ν ∈ (0, 2), ν 6= 1, is given by

(2.3) ψ(ξ) = −iµξ + cΓ(−ν)[λ+ ν − (λ+ + iξ)ν + (−λ− )ν − (−λ− − iξ)ν ],

where c > 0, µ ∈ R, and λ− < −1 < 0 < λ+ . Carr et al. (2002) [21] use different
parameters labels C, G, M, Y :

(2.4) ψ(ξ) = −iµξ + CΓ(−Y )[GY − (G + iξ)Y + M Y − (M − iξ)Y ].

The relation between two parameterizations is quite easy to obtain:

(2.5) c = C, λ+ = G, λ− = −M, ν = Y.

Example 2.2. In DEJD model, the characteristic exponent is of the form

σ2 2 ic+ ξ ic− ξ
ψ(ξ) = ξ − iµξ + + ,
2 λ+ + iξ λ− + iξ
where σ > 0, µ ∈ R, c± > 0 and λ− < −1 < 0 < λ+ .

2.2. The Wiener-Hopf factorization. There are several forms of the Wiener-Hopf
factorization. The Wiener-Hopf factorization formula used in probability reads:

(2.6) E[eiξXTq ] = E[eiξX Tq ]E[eiξX Tq ], ∀ ξ ∈ R,

 EFFICIENT PRICING LOOKBACK OPTIONS UNDER LÉVY PROCESSES 7

where Tq ∼ Exp q is an exponentially distributed random variable independent of

X, and X t = sup0≤s≤t Xs and X t = inf 0≤s≤t Xs are the supremum and infimum
processes. Introducing the notation
Z ∞  h i
q (ξ) = qE
φ+ e−qt eiξX t dt = E eiξX Tq ,
0
Z ∞  h i
q (ξ) = qE
φ− e−qt eiξX t dt = E eiξX Tq
0

we can write (2.6) as

q
(2.7) = φ+
q (ξ)φq (ξ).
−
q + ψ(ξ)
Introduce the normalized resolvent of X or the expected present value operator
(EPV–operator) under X. The name is due to the observation that, for a stream
g(Xt ),
Z +∞ 
(2.8) Eq g(x) = E qe −qt
g(Xt )dt | X0 = x .
0

Replacing in (2.8) process X with the supremum and infimum processes X and X, we
obtain the EPV operators Eq± under supremum and infimum process. Equivalently,

(2.9) Eq u(x) = Ex [u(XTq )], Eq+ u(x) = Ex [u(X Tq )], Eq− u(x) = Ex [u(X Tq )].

Hence, Eq and Eq± admit interpretation as expectation operators:

Z +∞ Z +∞
Eq g(x) = g(x + y)Pq (dy), Eq± g(x) = g(x + y)Pq± (dy),
−∞ −∞

where Pq (dy), Pq± (dy) are probability distributions with supp Pq+ ⊂ [0, +∞), supp Pq− ⊂
(−∞, 0]. The characteristic functions of the distributions Pq (dy) and Pq± (dy) are
q(q + ψ(ξ))−1 and φ±
q (ξ), respectively.

The operator form of the Wiener-Hopf factorization is written as follows (see details
in [59, p.81]):

(2.10) Eq = Eq+ Eq− = Eq− Eq+ .

Note that (2.10) is understood as equalities for operators in appropriate function

spaces, for instance, in the space of semi-bounded Borel functions. Under appropriate
conditions on the characteristic exponent, the EPV operators are defined as operators
in spaces of functions of exponential growth at infinity, and (2.10) holds in these
spaces. See [14].
8 OLEG KUDRYAVTSEV

Finally, note that (2.7) is a special case of the Wiener-Hopf factorization of the
symbol of a pseudo-differential operator (PDO). In applications to Lévy processes,
the symbol is q/(q + ψ(ξ)), and the PDO is Eq := q(q + ψ(D))−1 . Recall that a PDO
A = a(D) acts as follows:
Z +∞
Au(x) = (2π)−1 eixξ a(ξ)û(ξ)dξ,
−∞

where û is the Fourier transform of a function u:

Z +∞
û(ξ) = e−ixξ u(x)dx.
−∞

It is easily seen that

(2.11) Eq± := φ±
q (D) = Fξ→x φq (ξ)Fx→ξ .
−1 ±

where F is the Fourier transform. We will construct appropriate approximations

to each operator on the rightmost part of (2.11), and use (2.11) as the basis for a
numerical realization of the main Theorem 2.1.

2.3. Calculation of value functions using Laplace transform. We consider

options, whose payoff at maturity date T depends on (XT , X T ) but not on X T . This
implies that the barrier H = eh may play a role only when it is reached or crossed from
above. The definitions and results below admit the straightforward reformulation for
the case of options with payoffs depending on (XT , X T ) but not on X T . In this case,
the barrier H = eh may play a role only when it is reached or crossed from below.
Consider

V (T, x) = Ex e−rT g(XT , X T )1{τ − >T } ,

h i
(2.12)
h

where time 0 is the beginning of a period under consideration (so that X0 = X 0 = x),
T is the final date, h is the absorbing barrier, τh− denotes the first entrance time into
(−∞, h], and g(XT , X T ) is the payoff at time T .
Denote by V̂ (q, x) the Laplace transform of V (T, x) w.r.t. T . Applying Fu-
bini’s theorem, we obtain that V̂ (q, x) is the value function of the perpetual stream
g(Xt , X t ), which is terminated the first moment Xt crosses h, the discounting factor
 EFFICIENT PRICING LOOKBACK OPTIONS UNDER LÉVY PROCESSES 9

being q + r:
Z +∞
e−qt Ex e−rt g(Xt , X t )1{τ − >t} dt
h i
V̂ (q, x) =
0 h
"Z #
τh−
= Ex e−(q+r)t g(Xt , X t )dt .
0

Theorem 2.1. Let g be a measurable locally bounded function satisfying certain con-
ditions on growth at ∞. Then

1(h,+∞) w(q + r; ·) (x),

 
(2.13) V̂ (q, x) = (q + r)−1 Eq+r
−

where

(2.14) w(q + r; x) = Eq+r

+
g(x, y)|y=x ,
+
and Eq+r acts w.r.t. the first argument.

The proof of the Theorem 2.1 can be found in [44].

3. Special cases and numerical method

In this section, we apply Theorem 2.1 to price different types of exotics on an

underlying that pays dividends. More details can be found in [44].
We assume that, under an EMM chosen for pricing, the log-price of the stock
Xt = log St follows a Lévy process with the characteristic exponent ψ. The riskless
rate r ≥ 0 and dividend rate d ≥ 0 are assumed constant.

3.1. European floating strike lookback options. In this subsection, we recover

the formula for the European floating strike lookbacks from [54] using Theorem 2.1.
Assume that the infimum process starts at x = X0 . Then the time-0 price of the
lookback option with payoff g(XT , X T ) at maturity is given by
h i
V (T, x) = Ex e−rT g(XT , X T ) .

This is a particular case of (2.12) with h = −∞. Hence, Theorem 2.1 can be applied.
Consider a floating strike lookback call. Then g(x, y) = ex − ey . Applying Eq+r
+
w.r.t.
x, we obtain w(q + r; x) = φ+
q+r (−i)e − e = (φq+r (−i) − 1)e , and then
x x + x

 
V̂ (q, x) = (q + r)−1 Eq+r
−
(φ+
q+r (−i) − 1)e (x)
·

= (q + r)−1 φ−
q+r (−i)(φq+r (−i) − 1)e .
+ x
10 OLEG KUDRYAVTSEV

Using the Wiener-Hopf factorization formula (2.7) with q + r in place of q, and the
EMM condition (2.1), we arrive at

1 φ− (−i) x
" #
(3.1) V̂ (q, x) = − q+r e .
q+d q+r

The value φ−
q+r (−i) can be calculated using an integral representation for ln φq+r (ξ)
−

(see e.g. [14]).

3.2. European fixed strike lookback put. In this case, g(x, y) = (K − ey )+ is

independent of x, h = −∞, and w(q + r; x) = (K − ex )+ . Therefore, equation (2.13)
simplifies:
 
V̂ (q, x) = (q + r)−1 Eq+r
−
(K − e· )+ (x).

Note that Eberlein and Papapantoleon [28] proved a symmetry relationship between
floating-strike and fixed-strike lookback options for assets driven by general Lévy
processes.

3.3. Barrier-lookback options. In the subsection, we suggest a new class of hybrid

exotics: lookbacks with barriers. We will call these options barrier-lookbacks. The
barrier-lookback option expires worthless if the extremum crosses some prefixed barrier
during the optionŠs life. Otherwise, the option’s owner is entitled to the lookback’s
payoff g(XT , X T ) at maturity date T . We may consider down-and-out or up-and-out
lookbacks with a floating (fixed) strike lookback’s payoff.
For instance, we apply our approach to a down-and-out floating strike lookback
call with the barrier H = eh . Without loss of generality, we assume h = 0. The
price V (T, x) of the option is given by (2.12) with g(XT , X T ) = eXT − eX T . We apply
Theorem 2.1 and obtain (2.13), where w(q; x) can be explicitly calculated:

(3.2) w(q; x) = Eq+r

+
(ex − ey )|y=x = φ+
q+r (−i)e − e .
x x
 EFFICIENT PRICING LOOKBACK OPTIONS UNDER LÉVY PROCESSES 11

Using the Wiener-Hopf factorization formula (2.7) with q + r in place of q, the EMM
condition (2.1) and (3.2), we rewrite (2.13) as follows.

1(0,+∞) (φ+q+r (−i) − 1)e· (x)

 
V̂ (q, x) = (q + r)−1 Eq+r
−

 
= (q + r)−1 Eq+r
−
(φ+
q+r (−i) − 1)e (x)
·

1(−∞;0] (φ+q+r (−i) − 1)e· (x)

 
− (q + r)−1 Eq+r
−

1 x φ− q+r (−i) x 1 1
!
1(−∞;0] e· (x).
 
(3.3) = e − e − − −
Eq+r
q+d q+r (q + d)φq+r (−i) q + r
−

Remark 3.1. In a numerical realization, we need to approximate operator Eq+r

−
only.
Furthermore, since

q+r (−i) = (Eq+r 1(−∞;0] e )(0),

φ− − ·

it is unnecessary to write a separate subprogram for calculation of φ−

q+r (−i).

Now, consider a down-and-out fixed strike lookback put with the barrier H = eh .
The price V (T, x) of the option under consideration at time zero is given by (2.12)
with the payoff function g(XT , X T ) = (K − eX T )+ . Applying Theorem 2.1, we find
the Laplace transform of V (T, x):

1(h,+∞) (K − e· )+ (x).
 
(3.4) V̂ (q, x) = (q + r)−1 Eq+r
−

3.4. Partial barrier-lookback options. In the current subsection, we combine the

features of barrier-lookback options and of a class of partial barrier options intro-
duced in [35]. Consider the option with two maturity dates T1 < T2 . Provided that
the underlying remains above the barrier level H = eh during the early monitoring
knock-out window [0, T1 ], at time T1 , the option becomes a seasoned lookback option
g(XT1 , X T1 ) with payoff g0 (XT2 , X T2 ) at time T2 . We will call these options partial
barrier-lookbacks.
The price V (T1 , T2 ; x) of the partial knock-out barrier lookback at time zero is
given by (2.12) with T = T1 , where
h i
(3.5) g(x, y) = ET1 e−r(T2 −T1 ) g0 (XT2 , X T2 )|XT1 = x, X T1 = y .
12 OLEG KUDRYAVTSEV

Set T = T2 − T1 and simplify the expression (3.5) for g(x, y) at x ≥ y:

h
g(x, y) = Ex e−rT g0 (XT , min{X T , y})]
= Ex e−rT g0 (XT , X T )1{τy− ≤T } + Ex e−rT g0 (XT , y)1{τy− >T }
h i h i

= Ex e−rT g0 (XT , X T ) + Ex e−rT (g0 (XT , y) − g0 (XT , X T ))1{τy− >T } .

h i h i

Hence, g(x, y) can be represented as follows.

(3.6) g(x, y) = V1 (T, x) + V2 (T, x, y),

where V1 (T, x), V2 (T, x, y) are the prices of the lookback and barrier-lookback options
with maturity T and payoffs g0 (XT , X T ), g0 (XT , y) − g0 (XT , X T ), respectively.
Now, we can apply the procedures from the previous subsections to obtain the
prices of the partial barrier-lookbacks. An additional ingredient for an efficient nu-
merical realization would be a piece-wise linear or polynomial approximation of g
before the last step of calculation of the price of barrier-lookback options can be
made.

Remark 3.2. Notice that (3.6) gives the time-t price of a seasoned lookback with
the time remaining to expiration T , conditional on Xt = x and the minimum of the
underlying asset price observed prior to the current time t is ey , y < x.

3.5. Numerical method. In general Lévy models formulas (3.3) and (3.4) involve
the double Fourier inversion (and one more integration needed to calculate one of the
factors in the Wiener-Hopf factorization formula). Hence, it is difficult to implement
these formulas in practice apart from the cases when explicit formulas for the factors
are available. We suggest to use FWHF-method from [42] for calculation of V̂ (q, x)
at points q chosen for the application of the Gaver-Stehfest algorithm. (Appendix A
contains a description of the optimized version of the one-dimensional Gaver-Stehfest
method.) For this reason, we refer to our algorithm as the “FWHF&GS-method”.
The total computational cost of our method is O(N M log2 (M )), where N is the
parameter of the Gaver-Stehfest algorithm, and M is the number of discrete points
used to compute the fast Fourier transform in FWHF-method. The short description
of the FWHF-method can be found in Appendix B. In [61], [24], [43], it was found
 EFFICIENT PRICING LOOKBACK OPTIONS UNDER LÉVY PROCESSES 13

numerically that the choice of 12-14 terms in the Gaver-Stehfest formula results in
satisfactory accuracy (5–7 significant digits) for the case of Kou, HEJD and KoBoL
models, respectively. Our numerical experiments in Section 4 confirm this statement.
In this case, the standard double precision gives reasonable results.

FWHF&GS algorithm for pricing options with barrier and/or lookback features

• Using Theorem 2.1, find the Laplace transformed prices V̂ (q, x) at values q
specified by the Gaver-Stehfest algorithm. Action of operators Eq+r
±
in (2.13)
and (2.14) can be realized using FWHF-method.
• Use the Gaver-Stehfest inversion formula.

4. Numerical examples

We check the performance of FWHF&GS-method against prices obtained by Monte

Carlo simulation (MC-method). It is well known that the convergence of Monte Carlo
estimators of quantities involving first passage is very slow. The recent exception is
the Wiener-Hopf Monte-Carlo simulation technique developed in [46]. The method
is numerically tractable for families of Levy processes whose Lévy measure can be
written as a sum of a Lévy measure from the β-family [45] or hypergeometric family
[46] and a measure of finite mass. However, class of KoBoL processes is not a subclass
of any of these two families. Hence, we simulate trajectories of KoBoL using the code
of J. Poirot and P. Tankov (www.math.jussieu.fr/ ∼ tankov/). The program uses the
algorithm in [52], see also [58]. We used 3, 000, 000 paths with time step 0.00005.
The option prices were calculated on a PC with characteristics Intel Core(TM)2 Due
CPU, 1.8GHz, RAM 1024Mb, under Windows Vista.
We consider two types of lookback options under the KoBoL(CGMY) model (2.3),
and use the same parameters of the KoBoL (CGMY) process as in [29]: c = 4,
λ+ = 50.0, λ− = −60.0, ν = 0.7 (C = 4, G = 50.0, M = 60.0, Y = 0.7 in CGMY
parametrization); the remaining parameters are time to maturity T = 1 and the
dividend rate d = 0.02 and interest rate r = 0.05. The drift parameter µ is fixed by
14 OLEG KUDRYAVTSEV

(2.2), according to the EMM-requirement (2.1). The examples, which we analyze in

detail below, are fairly representative.
For verification of the accuracy of our method, we calculate prices of European
lookbacks without barrier. Table 1 reports prices for the floating strike lookback
put calculated by using MC-Method, FWHF&GS-method and HT method [30] (HT-
method). The HT-prices were obtained using the code implemented into the program
platform Premia [56]. FWHF&GS-prices converge very fast and agree with MC-
prices very well. However, discrete lookback option prices calculated by HT-method
converge to the continuous lookback option prices rather slowly. If HT-method is
expanded for the case of the barrier-lookbacks, we may expect the same behavior of
the prices.
Next, we consider a barrier-lookback with a down-and-out barrier H, a floating
strike lookback’s payoff and and time to expiry T . We will refer to this option as a
down-and-out floating strike lookback call. In Table 2, the sample mean values are
compared with the prices of FWHF&GS method.

Appendix A. A numerical Laplace transform inversion: the

Gaver-Stehfest algorithm

Methods of numerical Laplace inversion that fit the framework of [1] have the
following general feature: the approximate formula for f (τ ) can be written as

1X N
αk
 
(A.1) f (τ ) ≈ ωk · f˜ , 0 < τ < ∞,
τ k=1 τ

where N is a positive integer and αk , ωk are certain constants that are called the
nodes and the weights, respectively. They depend on N , but not on f or on τ . In
particular, the inversion formula of the Gaver-Stehfest method can be written in the
form (A.1) with αk = k ln(2),

(A.2) N = 2n;
(−1)n+k ln(2) min{k,n} j
(A.3) := j n+1 Cnj C2j Cjk−j ,
X
ωk
n! j=[(k+1)/2)]
 EFFICIENT PRICING LOOKBACK OPTIONS UNDER LÉVY PROCESSES 15

Table 1. KoBoL model: floating strike lookback put prices

A
MC FWHF&GS
h = 0.01 h = 0.001 h = 0.0002
Option prices 14.2693 14.4380 14.2880 14.2675
Errors w.r.t. MC 0.1% 1.2% 0.1% 0.0%
CPU-time (sec) 100,000 0.003 0.031 0.156
B
MC HT
N = 320 N = 640 N = 1280
M = 4096 M = 8192 M = 32768
Option prices 14.2693 13.94 14.07 14.17
Errors w.r.t. MC 0.1% -2.3% -1.4% -0.7%
CPU-time (sec) 100,000 28 129 1117
KoBoL parameters: c = 4, λ+ = 50.0, λ− = −60.0, ν = 0.7, µ = 0.207142.
Option parameters: S = 100, T = 1, r = 0.05, d = 0.02.
Parameters of the FWHF&GS-method : h – space step, N = 14.
Parameters of the HM-method : N – the number of observations of the maximum, M – the
number of discrete points used to compute the Hilbert transform.
Panel A: Option prices
Panel B: Relative errors w.r.t. MC; MC error indicates the ratio between the half-width of the
95% confidence interval and the sample mean.

where [x] is the greatest integer less than or equal to x and CLK = L!
(L−K)!K!
are the
binomial coefficients.
Because of the binomial coefficients in the weights, the Gaver-Stehfest algorithm
tends to require high system precision in order to yield good accuracy in the calcu-
lations. If M significant digits are desired, then according to [63], the parameter n
in (A.2) should be the least integer greater than or equal to 1.1M , N = 2n, and
the required system precision is about 1.1N . In particular, for M = 6 and N = 14
a standard double precision gives reasonable results. The precision requirement is
driven by the coefficients ωk in (A.3).
Since constants ωk do not depend on τ , they can be tabulated for the values of N
that are commonly used in computational finance (e.g., 12 or 14).
16 OLEG KUDRYAVTSEV

Table 2. KoBoL model: down-and-out floating strike lookback call prices

A
MC FWHF&GS
Spot price Sample mean h = 0.01 h = 0.001 h = 0.0002 h = 0.0001
S = 81 1.73270 1.40919 1.69624 1.72731 1.73151
S = 90 9.14148 8.99476 9.15197 9.16768 9.16946
S = 100 13.66470 13.6559 13.6864 13.6869 13.6864
S = 110 16.34670 16.4432 16.3807 16.3707 16.3688
CPU-time
(sec) 100,000 0.003 0.031 0.156 0.31
B
MC FWHF&GS
Spot price MC error h = 0.01 h = 0.001 h = 0.0002 h = 0.0001
S = 81 0.5% -18.7% -2.1% -0.3% -0.1%
S = 90 0.2% -1.6% 0.1% 0.3% 0.3%
S = 100 0.1% -0.1% 0.2% 0.2% 0.2%
S = 110 0.1% 0.6% 0.2% 0.1% 0.1%
CPU-time
(sec) 100,000 0.003 0.031 0.156 0.31
KoBoL parameters: c = 4, λ+ = 50.0, λ− = −60.0, ν = 0.7, µ = 0.207142.
Option parameters: S – spot price, H = 80, T = 1, r = 0.05, d = 0.02.
Algorithm parameters: h – space step, N = 14.
Panel A: Option prices
Panel B: Relative errors w.r.t. MC; MC errors indicate the ratio between the half-width of the
95% confidence interval and the sample mean.

Appendix B. The Fast Wiener-Hopf factorization method

We briefly review the framework proposed in [42]. The main contribution of the
FWHF–method is an efficient numerical realization of EPV-operators E, E + and E − .
As the initial step, we need an efficient procedure for calculation of the Wiener-Hopf
factors φ±
q (ξ).

It is well-known that the limit of a sequence of the Poisson type characteristic

functions is an infinitely divisible characteristic function. The converse is also true.
Every infinitely divisible characteristic function can be written as the limit of a se-
quence of finite products of Poisson type characteristic functions. Since ψ(ξ) is the
characteristic exponent of Lévy process, then the function q/(q + ψ(ξ)) is infinitely
divisible characteristic function.
 EFFICIENT PRICING LOOKBACK OPTIONS UNDER LÉVY PROCESSES 17

5. Implementation to the Premia 14

We implemented FWHF-method for four types of lookback options:
• European floating strike lookback put with a prefixed maximum;
• European fixed strike lookback put with a prefixed minimum;
• European floating strike lookback call with a prefixed minimum;
• European fixed strike lookback call with a prefixed maximum;
The method is implemented for two models:
• CGMY model (see Example 2.1);
• Kou model (see Example 2.2).
Note that in the program implemented into Premia 14 one can manage by two
parameters of the algorithm: the space step d and the scale of logprice range L.
Parameter L controls the size of the truncated region in x-space; it corresponds to
the region (−L ln(2)/d; L ln(2)/d). The typical values of the parameter are L = 1,
L = 2 and L = 4. To improve the results one should decrease d, when L is fixed.
A
MC FWHF&GS
Spot price Sample mean h = 0.01 h = 0.001 h = 0.0002 h = 0.0001
S = 81 1.05121 0.84865 1.02957 1.04854 1.05112
S = 90 6.16135 6.00966 6.15043 6.16031 6.16138
S = 100 9.27596 9.24288 9.28138 9.27738 9.27651
S = 110 10.9063 10.95320 10.91950 10.90330 10.90130
CPU-time
(sec) 100,000 0.008 0.078 0.39 0.78
B
MC FWHF&GS
Spot price MC error h = 0.01 h = 0.001 h = 0.0002 h = 0.0001
S = 81 0.4% -19.3% -2.1% -0.3% 0.0%
S = 90 0.1% -2.5% -0.2% 0.0% 0.0%
S = 100 0.1% -0.4% 0.1% 0.0% 0.0%
S = 110 0.1% 0.4% 0.1% 0.0% 0.0%
CPU-time
(sec) 100,000 0.008 0.078 0.39 0.78
KoBoL parameters: c = 4, λ+ = 50.0, λ− = −60.0, ν = 0.7, µ = 0.207142.
Option parameters: S – spot price, H = 80, T1 = 0.5, T2 = 1, r = 0.05, d = 0.02.
Algorithm parameters: h – space step, N = 14.
Panel A: Option prices
Panel B: Relative errors w.r.t. MC; MC errors indicate the ratio between the half-width of the
95% confidence interval and the sample mean.

We approximate q/(q + ψ(ξ)) by a periodic function Φ with a large period 2π/h,

which is the length of the truncated region in the frequency domain, then approximate
18 OLEG KUDRYAVTSEV

the latter by a partial sum of the Fourier series, and, finally, use the factorization of
the latter instead of the exact one.
Explicit formulas for approximations of φ±
q have the following form. For small

positive h and large even M , set

h Z π/h
bhk = ln Φ(ξ)e−iξkh dξ, k 6= 0,
2π −π/h
M/2 −1
b+ bhk (exp(iξkh) − 1), b− bhk (exp(iξkh) − 1);
X X
h,M (ξ) = h,M (ξ) =
k=1 k=−M/2+1

φ±
q (ξ) ≈ exp(b±
h,M (ξ)).

We can also apply this realization after the reduction to symbols of order 0 has
been made (see details in [42]). Numerical experiments show that there is no sufficient
difference between both realizations.
Approximants for EPV-operators can be efficiently computed using the Fast Fourier
Transform (FFT) for real-valued functions. Consider the algorithm of the discrete
Fourier transform (DFT) defined by
M −1
gk e2πikl/M ,
X
Gl = DF T [g](l) = l = 0, ..., M − 1.
k=0

The formula for the inverse DFT which recovers the set of gk ’s exactly from Gl ’s is:
1 MX
−1
gk = iDF T [G](k) = Gl e−2πikl/M , k = 0, ..., M − 1.
M l=0

In our case, the data consist of a real-valued array {gk }M

k=0 . The resulting transform

satisfies GM −l = Ḡl . Since this complex-valued array has real values G0 and GM/2 ,
and M/2 − 1 other independent complex values G1 , ..., GM/2−1 , then it has the same
“degrees of freedom” as the original real data set. In this case, it is efficient to use
FFT algorithm for real-valued functions (see [57] for technical details). To distinguish
DFT of real functions we will use notation RDFT.
Fix the space step h > 0 and number of the space points M = 2m . Define the
partitions of the normalized log-price domain [− M2h ; M2h ) by points xk = − M2h +
kh, k = 0, ..., M − 1, and the frequency domain [− πh ; πh ] by points ξl = 2πl
hM
, l =
−M/2, ..., M/2. Then the Fourier transform of a function g on the real line can be
 EFFICIENT PRICING LOOKBACK OPTIONS UNDER LÉVY PROCESSES 19

approximated as follows:

ĝ(ξl ) ≈ heiπl RDF T [g](l), l = 0, ..., M/2.

Here and below, z denotes the complex conjugate of z, and .∗ is the element-wise
multiplication of arrays that represent the functions. Using the notation p(ξ) =
q(q + ψ(ξ))−1 , we can approximate Eq :

(Eq g)(xk ) ≈ iRDF T [p. ∗ RDF T [g]](k), k = 0, ..., M − 1.

Next, we define

bhk = iRDF T [ln Φ](k), k = 0, ..., M − 1,

p± (ξl ) = exp(b±
h,M (ξl )), l = −M/2, ..., 0.

The action of the EPV-operator Eq± is approximated as follows:

(Eq± g)(xk ) = iRDF T [ p± . ∗ RDF T [g]](k), k = 0, ..., M − 1.

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